Manual syringe filling apparatus

ABSTRACT

A syringe filling apparatus consisting of an upright frame having a platform for supporting a tray adapted to hold a plurality of syringe cartridges in either a horizontal storage or vertical filling position, there being provided below the platform a manually operated squeeze bubble defining a pump for pressurizing a removable medicament unit. The medicament unit includes a flexible outlet tube from a disposable medicament bottle having a nozzle at the end of the tube. A pinch-type handle valve is fixed to the end of the flexible outlet tube adjacent the nozzle that may be manually grasped and actuated to fill each of the cartridges supported on the tray on the work supporting platform.

States Patent 1191 Unite Borutta et al. 1 ay 22, 1973 541 MANUAL SYRINGEFILLING 3,061,089 10/1962 Higgins ..206/46 FC APPARATUS 2,939,671 6/1960Beekman 3,661,189 5/1972 Bowser etal. ..141 3711 [75] Inventors: RobertA. Borutta, Maryland Heights; Elmer A. Koenig, Kirkwood, both of Mo.

[73] Assignee: Sherwood Medical Industries, Inc.,

St. Louis, M0.

221 Filed: Mar. 17,1971

211 Appl.N0.: 125,269

[52] US. Cl. ..141/27, 141/114, 141/378 [51] llnt. Cl. ..B65b 3/14 [58]Field of Search ..14ll27, 375, 279,

141/369, 267, 25, 26, 28,114,116, 378,18, 1, 2, 94, 119; 222/181, 209;206/46 FC; 248/206 A; 128/214, 218 C; 23/259 Primary Examiner-Houston S.Bell, Jr. Attorney-Hofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman & Mo Cord 57ABSTRACT A syringe filling apparatus consisting of an upright framehaving a platform for supporting a tray adapted to hold a plurality ofsyringe cartridges in either a horizontal storage or vertical fillingposition, there being provided below the platform a manually operatedsqueeze bubble defining a pump for pressurizing a removable medicamentunit. The medicament unit includes a flexible outlet tube from adisposable medicament bottle having a nozzle at the end of the tube. Apinch-type handle valve is fixed to the end of the flexible outlet tubeadjacent the nozzle that may be manually grasped and actuated to filleach of the cartridges supported on the tray on the work supportingplatform.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENIEMA Z 3734.147

sum 1 BF 3 ATTORNE PATENTED M22 I973 SHEET 2 or 3 Eel-(34,147

MANUAL SYRINGE FILLING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTIONThere are a plurality of techniques employed in present day hospitalsfor filling syringes with medicament. One such technique involves theuse of a prefilled medicament container having a seal over the open endthereof. The nurse or technician manually fills a plurality of syringesby inserting the needle of each syringe, one at a time, through themedicament bottle seal and thereafter withdrawing the syringe plungeruntil the desired level of medicament is observed in the syringe barrelat which time the technician terminates syringe plunger withdrawal andremoves the syringe needle from the medicament container seal. Thisoperation is repeated until medicament in the prefilled container isexhausted.

There are several disadvantages to this technique, one being theslowness in filling, another being the probability of inaccurate barrelfilling resulting from technician error, and still another and perhapsthe most important is the possibility of contamination. Thecontamination may result from the insertion of different needles intothe same container seal and may also result from the manual handling ofthe syringes and needles by the technician.

There have in the past been attempts to automate syringe filling and onesuch apparatus is disclosed in the copending application of Edward R.Tascher and Elmer A. Koenig, Ser. No. 26,683, filed Apr. 8, 1970, now U.S. Letters Patent 3,662,517 assigned to the assignee of the presentinvention.

In this prior application, a turret-type completely automatic syringefilling device is disclosed. The turntable indexes, carrying thesyringes from one station to another, until all of the syringe barrelsare filled automatically with medicament to the level sensed by aphotocell. While this automatic apparatus is extremely rapid, efficient,and accurate, it is not practical to use this machine for filling asmall number of syringes such as 100 or 200. Thus there arises a needfor a less expensive, but accurate and reliable filling apparatus forsyringes.

It is a primary object of the present invention to eliminate or minimizethe problems in the prior art devices described above.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION In accordance with the presentinvention a syringe filling apparatus is provided that is manuallyoperable but yet has the capability of the rapid and aseptic filling ofa plurality of syringes or syringe cartridges. The apparatus includesanupright stand having a manually operable bubble pump that is squeezedrepeatedly to pressurize a medicament container supported at the top ofthe apparatus frame in an inverted position.

The medicament container along with a self-piercing cap, tubing andnozzle are disposable items that preclude contamination of any permanentpart of the filling apparatus with medicament. There are two tubesextending from the self-piercing cap connected to the medicamentcontainer. One of these communicates with the manually operable bubblepump through a filter fixed to the upright apparatus frame. This tubethus carries the air from the pump into the medicament container for thepurpose of pressurizing the same. The second tube extending from themedicament container cap is the discharge tube for delivering medicamentthrough anozzle at the distal end thereof.

Attached adjacent the nozzle is a manually operable pinch valve andhandle combination, similar to, or having a pliers-type action, and whenactuated manually opens the occluded discharge tube permittingmedicament from the container to flow into the syringes. When the properlevel of medicament has been observed by the technician in eachcontainer, the manual pinch valve is simply released occluding thedischarge tube and thereby terminating medicament flow. The adjacentsyringes or syringe cartridges are filled with the same matter.

When not in use the pinch valve and discharge nozzle are held in areadily reached position on a syringe supporting platform by a permanentmagnet.

To support the syringe barrels or syringe cartridges in an uprightposition, a removable storage tray is provided which is received in arecess on the work supporting platform. The tray includes a plurality ofparallel recesses having gripping portions that hold the syringecartridges in the recesses in a plane parallel to the plane of the tray.This is the storage position for the cartridges. Each of these recessesalso has another gripping portion at the end of the recesses which holdthe cartridges in an upright position during filling without thetechnician holding the syringe barrels or cartridges in any way.

Also provided on the work supporting platform are a plurality ofapertures which may receive syringe barrels when it is not desired touse the removable supporting tray.

The present syringe filling apparatus is designed to provide thehospital pharmacy with a filling device that is comparativelyinexpensive to install, requiring a minimum of maintenance. Thisapparatus discourages the common practice of returning partially usedmultidose vials or medicament containers to the shelf where theyfrequently are placed in rear positions and eventually lost throughexpired shelf life. Moreover, the present filling apparatus saves thetime of both pharmacists and nurses while at the same time reduces thepossibility of miscalculations, mismeasurement and other errors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of afilling apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-section taken generally along line 2-2 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the work supporting platform and tray;

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of the syringe supporting tray; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-section of the tray taken generally along line 5-5 ofFIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to thedrawings, the present syringe filling apparatus 10 is seen to consistgenerally of an upright frame member 12, a manual squeeze pump 14, adisposable medicament unit 16, a manually operated pinch valve 18 and asyringe supporting platform 20.

It should be understood that while the present filling apparatus isillustrated as being applied to the filling of syringe cartridges 22that the device is also usable for filling syringe barrels directly orfor filling containers for oral liquid unit doses. The filling apparatushas the same advantages of minimum contamination, efficiency andaccuracy of filling regardless of the specific configuration of thereceptacle to be filled.

The frame 12 consists of two tapered upright side panels 24 and 26having flanges 27 and 28 respectively that define the supporting feetfor the device, although rubber feet such as indicated at 30 in FIG. 2may be added thereto. The sides 24 and 26 converge somewhat to providestability for the device and are joined by a back panel 32 shown best inFIG. 2. The back panel 32 has a lower vertical portion 33, a forwardlydirected portion 34, a central vertical portion 36, a rearwardlyextending portion 37 and an upper vertically extending portion 38.

For the purpose of pressurizing container 40 in the medicament unit 16the manually operable bubble pump 14 is provided consisting of a rubberbubble 43 having an end 44 communicating with atmosphere, with a bayonetconnection 46 received in a fitting 47 in housing back portion 34.

Air pumped by squeezing bubble 43 is delivered through a flexibleconduit 48 connected at one end to a fitting associated with bayonetconnection 46 and at the other end to a fitting 49 fixed to housing backportion 37.

Also removably seated within fitting 49 is a filter 51 for filtering theair pumped to the container 40. The filter 51 has a fitting 53projecting upwardly therefrom for releasably receiving a flexible tube54 defining a part of the disposable medicament container unit 16. Itshould be understood that the bubble pump 14 and the filter 51 areangularly related downwardly and upwardly, respectively, to both reducethe required depth of the unit and also to facilitate manualaccessibility to these parts. The pump 14 delivers air through tube 54to the container 40.

The disposable medicament unit 16 includes a selfpiercing cap 56 whichhas needles, not shown, which are self-inserting into a rubber seal onthe top of medicament container 40 when the cap 56 is insertedthereover.

To support the cap 56 and medicament container 40 on the frame 12, across-member 58 is provided adjacent the upper ends of the side panels24 and 26. The cross-member 58 has a recess 60 having a width sufficientto receive and hold a necked-down portion 61 on cap 56 and in thismanner hold the container in the inverted position shown in FIGS. 1 and2.

To assist in holding the bottle 40 in its inverted position shown, abracket assembly 62 is provided having an L-shaped bracket 63frictionally held in position by a recessed member 64 fixed to the backof the frame with a spring member 65 frictionally engaging bracket 63 tohold it in its set position. The bracket 63 is vertically adjusted bygrasping projecting portion 67 and raising and lowering a bottleengaging portion 69 until it securely engages the top of bottle 40.

The medicament unit cap 56 has a flexible plastic discharge tube 72extending therefrom with a nozzle 73 at the distal end thereof fordischarging medicament from bottle 40 into the syringe cartridges 22.

Pinch valve 18 serves the purpose of occluding the distal end of tube 72to initiate and terminate discharge flow from tube 72 relative to thesyringe cartridges 22. Toward this end the pinch valve 18 includes abracket 75 surrounding the base of the nozzle 73 and gripping the samefor the purpose of holding the pinch valve on the end of tube 72.Bracket 75 has a transverse projection 76 fixed to one of the pinchvalve members 78 and 79. The pinch valve members 78 and 79 are biased toan occluding position on the end of tube 72 by a spring 81 and havehandle portions 83 and 84 that permit the pinch valve to be operated ina manner similar to a pair of pliers.

The syringe supporting platform 20 includes a horizontally disposedmember 88 having forward and rear raised portions 89 and 90 defining arecess 91 for holding a syringe cartridge supporting tray 93. Theplatform member 88 extends from rear wall portion 36 and is supported oncross-member 101.

The forward raised portion 89 has a plurality of apertures 102 thereinfor alternatively supporting the syringe barrels during filling, i.e.,rather than employing tray 93.

The sides of platform member 88 carry magnets 126 and 127, either ofwhich may hold the pinch valve 18 in an easily accessible positiondepending upon the hand of the technician.

The tray 93 is a one-piece plastic molding adapted to hold syringecartridges 22 in either a horizontal position such as shown in the leftrecess in FIG. 4 or a vertical position as shown in FIG. 2. As shown inFIG. 3, the syringe cartridges 22 have cylindrical portions 104 withopen lower ends forming the breech of the syringe cartridge andnecked-down distal end portions 105 which receive a sealing cap, in asuitable capping machine after filling is complete. The cartridge 22 isthen inserted into a syringe casing and a plunger (not shown) isattached to a prepositioned rubber piston 106 in the syringe cartridge22. It should be understood that the piston 106 is initially positionedto provide the proper level of medicament in the cartridge 22 and alsoprevents medicament from flowing out the open end 107 of the cartridge22.

As shown more clearly in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cartridge tray 93 has aplurality of parallel recesses 110 formed therein which receive thesyringe barrels 22, for approximately one-half the length of thecartridge 22. Integrally formed resilient projections 112 formed on bothsides of the recesses 110 hold the syringe cartridges 22 in thehorizontal or down position shown in the left recess in FIG. 4, forstorage both prior to and after filling. The projections 112 terminateat 114 short of the end 116 of the recess defining shoulders I 18 thatserve to grip and hold the cartridges 22 when in the upright positionshown in the second recess 110 in FIG.

Extending transversely of the recess 110 is an elongated recess 120communicating with all of the recesses 110 and permitting the technicianto easily grasp the cartridges 22 when raising them from or loweringthem to their horizontal position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5. Theend 116 of recess 110 has a wall 123 with a small recess 124 whichassists in seating and locating the cartridges 22 when in an uprightposition.

While the operation of the present device is belived clear from theabove description a narrative description of the operation hereinafterwill serve as a summary of the present invention. The medicament unit 16is inserted in the device by inverting bottle 40 and sliding cap 56 inslot 60, connecting the free end tube 54 to fitting 53 and attaching thebracket 75 of the pinch valve to the nozzle end of tube 72.

Tray 93 with unfilled, uncapped cartridges 22 is then positioned in therecess 91 on platform 20. The car tridges are then raised to theirupright position.

To fill the cartridges 22 the squeeze bulb 43 is squeezed, injectingfiltered air into the medication bottle 40 creating a positive pressurein the bottle. The pinch valve 18 is then manually grasped to fill thecartridges 22.

After the cartridges 22 are filled the pinch valve 18 is returned to oneof its positions held by magnets 126 or 127 on the sides of the platform20.

After the cartridges 22 are filled, aluminum caps are placed on thecartridges and the cartridges are inserted into a cap crimping device(not shown) where the open distal ends 105 are sealed by crimping thecaps therearound. The crimped and capped cartridge is then ready for useor alternatively may be returned to the tray 93 for storage.

We claim:

l. A medicament receptacle filling apparatus, comprising: frame meanshaving front and back sides, and a lower end for supporting the framemeans in a generally vertical position, a generally horizontalreceptacle supporting platform on said frame means at the front sidethereof for supporting a plurality of medicament receiving receptacles,a medicament supply container removably supported on said frame means inan inverted position above said receptacle supporting platform, manuallyoperable pump means supported on said frame means for pressurizing thesupply container, air conduit means connected between said pump meansand the interior of said supply container, a filter connected in fluidflow communication with said air conduit means between said pump meansand said supply container, whereby manual operation of said pump meanspressurizes said supply container with positive pressure filtered air,flexible delivery conduit means extending from said supply container,said flexible delivery conduit means having a discharge nozzle at thefree end thereof, and a manually operable pinch valve detachably carriedon the free end of the flexible conduit means, said pinch valve normallypreventing flow of medicament through said delivery conduit means butbeing manually operable to permit said flow to initiate the flow ofmedicament selectively to each of said medicament receiving receptaclesand to stop the flow of medicament to each medicament receivingreceptacle to control the level of medicament in each medicamentreceiving receptacle.

2. A medicament receptacle filling apparatus as defined in claim lwherein said pump means has first means thereon communicating with theatmosphere for supplying air into said pump means, and second means onsaid pump means connected in fluid communication with said air conduitmeans to pump air from the atmosphere into the supply container forpressurizing the supply container with positive pressure.

3. A medicament receptacle filling apparatus as defined in claim 2wherein said pump means comprises a squeeze bulb, and said platformincludes a tray thereon for holding a plurality of said receptacles,said tray including means for frictionally holding the receptaclesselectively in horizontal storage and vertical filling positions.

4. A medicament receptacle filling apparatus as defined in claim 2further including a fitting connected to said frame means, and whereinsaid air conduit means includes a pair of conduits respectivelyconnected in fluid communication with said supply container and saidpump means, said fitting connecting said pair of conduits in fluidcommunication with each other, and said filter means being connectedwithin said fitting to filter air flowing to said supply container.

1. A medicament receptacle filling apparatus, comprising: frame meanshaving front and back sides, and a lower end for supporting the framemeans in a generally vertical position, a generally horizontalreceptacle supporting platform on said frame means at the front sidethereof for supporting a plurality of medicament receiving receptacles,a medicament supply container removably supported on said frame means inan inverted position above said receptacle supporting platform, manuallyoperable pump means supported on said frame means for pressurizing thesupply container, air conduit means connected between said pump meansand the interior of said supply container, a filter connected in fluidflow communication with said air conduit means between said pump meansand said supply container, whereby manual operation of said pump meanspressurizes said supply container with positive pressure filtered air,flexible delivery conduit means extending from said supply container,said flexible delivery conduit means having a discharge nozzle at thefree end thereof, and a manually operable pinch valve detachably carriedon the free end of the flexible conduit means, said pinch valve normallypreventing flow of medicament through said delivery conduit means butbeing manually operable to permit said flow to initiate the flow ofmedicament selectively to each of said medicament receiving receptaclesand to stop the flow of medicament to each medicament receivingreceptacle to control the level of medicament in each medicamentreceiving receptacle.
 2. A medicament receptacle filling apparatus asdefined in claim 1 wherein said pump means has first means thereoncommunicating with the atmosphere for supplying air into said pumpmeans, and second means on said pump means connected in fluidcommunication with said air conduit means to pump air from theatmosphere into the supply container for pressurizing the supplycontainer with positive pressure.
 3. A medicament receptacle fillingapparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said pump means comprises asqueeze bulb, and said platform includes a tray thereon for holding aplurality of said receptacles, said tray including means forfrictionally holding the receptacles selectively in horizontal storageand vertical filling positions.
 4. A medicament receptacle fillingapparatus as defined in claim 2 further including a fitting connected tosaid frame means, and wherein said air conduit means includes a pair ofconduits respectively connected in fluid communication with said supplycontainer and said pump means, said fitting connecting said pair ofconduits in fluid communication with each other, and said filter meansbeing connected within said fitting to filter air flowing to said supplycontainer.